Protected By Her Bear: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance Standalone (BBW Romance, BBW Paranormal Romance, BBW Shifter Romance, Shifter Romance) Read Free Page A

on survival that she hadn’t realized how much emotion had built up.
     
    “Not here,” he said. “There’s no one else around. You must have lost him. You’re safe.”
     
    In response, Kelly just cried harder. She couldn’t say how long she stood there in the dark forest, held by this complete stranger, but a significant amount of time passed.
     
    When she finally regained her composure and thought back on it, she was impressed and embarrassed with how long this man willingly comforted her while she was in hysterics. She tried to apologize, but he wouldn’t have it.
     
    Not ten meters away was his cabin, and he invited her inside. Offering her some hot tea and something to eat, she told her tale of the auction and Daniel.
     
    The man introduced himself as Tyler and promised she could stay there as long as she liked. He was alone here, living off of the land. No one would bother her here.
     
    At first, Kelly politely accepted his offer, thinking she wouldn’t be there any more than a day, two at most.
     
    Tyler was beautiful. That first night in the woods, it was too dark to see. The next morning, when she woke to breakfast, she couldn’t believe she’d missed it.
     
    Long hair, beard, and built like a tank. No wonder he’d been able to hold her up with such ease! Legs, arms, chest, everything was built for raw power.
     
    In all her life, she’d never met a man that made her drool the way he did. Physically drool. He woke parts of her body she didn’t realize could become aroused.
     
    Her skin, her stomach, her chest, all of it grew sensitive to touch and achy. Every muscle in her body ached for him to touch her, to grab her and pull her to him.
     
    From then on, every morning when she thought she should find her way back to the road and to home, she looked at Tyler and found some excuse to stay.
     
    For his part, Tyler was quick with the reasons she shouldn’t leave yet. At first, he used dangers in the forest, like moose mating season, or the great beaver migration (that one was her favorite).
     
    As he showed her around the house, in his garden, and the small shed where he cured his meats, he began giving her things to do around the house to help.
     
    Days turned to weeks. Kelly’s life fell into a beautiful routine. Occasionally, she had worry for her friends, or her job, but that would all take care of itself. The thought of going back to that life, that insanity terrified her.
     
    The way Tyler looked at her was worth everything. When he spoke to her, he watched her face, her eyes, her mouth. It was as though every word she said was poetry.
     
    The best parts, though, were when he thought she wasn’t looking. The way he watched her walk, or bend over. The hunger in his eyes. It made her shiver.
     
    Though, as kindly as he treated her and as ready as he was to find reasons for her to stay, he kept her at arm’s reach. They weren’t small things, either.
     
    She’d tried to give him ample opportunity to take advantage of her, but he refused. He gave her his bed, and slept on the couch. When she brushed against him in the kitchen, she could tell it excited him, but he would leave the cabin entirely.
     
    There was no doubt in her mind that he wanted her, but it was as though he was denying himself of having her.
     
    This was the man for her, the mighty man that wanted her curves and lusciousness. So why wasn’t he taking her?
     

 
    III.
     
     
    On top of that, he never spoke of himself. As the weeks turned to months, she discovered surprisingly little of him. He would talk at length about the forest, home, and life, but when she asked him about himself, his past, he either changed the subject or shut up entirely.
     
    Tyler was not a man to be cornered and forced into an answer. When confronted, he met that force head-on and then left. The conversation would go the way he wanted it to, or it just ended. Period. Still, it wasn’t enough to make her want to leave.
     
    Tyler treated